NYC 2015: Day 1 -My first plane ride

November 28, 2015

Dear Tutu,

I woke up early this morning to get ready for my first plane ride.  Mommy and Daddy are taking me to New York City!  Here we are at CLE, Cleveland Hopkins Airport.  Daddy works at the tower here.

There wasn't a lot of people so Daddy let me run around part of the concourse before they called to seat us.

I told everyone who passed me, "Hi!".

 Look!  There is our plane!

 

Mommy said we got to sit in the front of the plane in First Class.

I'm a little tired from running around so I'm going to take a nap...

 

We made it to JFK, John F. Kennedy International Airport in Queens, NY. We waited for our driver for about 5 minutes.  There is a "smell" in the air.

 

Let our adventure begin! P.S. You see Daddy's backpack?  That's my car seat!

Love, Alia

NYC 2015: Day 1 - Gardens NYC

This is our hotel in the Upper East Side.  At first glance the facade was blah and the lobby was small, but once we got to our room we were impressed.

 

 

It was big with a living room area, separate bathroom and a full kitchen.

 

 

They even gave me a playpen to use as my crib.  It came with free wi-fi and was close to several metro stations.  Neighborhood was easy to walk and it's very close to Central Park.

 The lobby and entrance

For the price Mommy highly recommends this boutique hotel. $265 per night (in NYC!)

NYC 2015: Day 1 - The Upper East Side and Central Park

November 28, 2015

We started off our journey walking the neighborhood in search of breakfast.

We stopped at the Ritz Diner on 1st Ave. just a few blocks east of our hotel. The food was good and reasonably priced and the service was relaxed and friendly.  We headed back to our hotel and noticed a CVS around the corner.  So convenient if we need anything (diapers, snacks, milk, etc.).  We were lucky that our hotel room was ready in the morning instead of the afternoon so Mom and Dad got to unpack and regroup while I explored the room.  When we were finally ready, we headed west towards 5th Ave. and Central Park.

 The street was lined with cobblestone -- pretty but rough on strollers

 64th and 5th Ave. - entrance to the Central Park Zoo from the street

Guess who fell asleep for a nap!  I guess we don't have to go into the zoo now since I'm not looking at anything. There were a lot of families enjoying the animals.  Mommy could see the penguins from outside the gate.

 Entrance to the Children's Zoo

 One of many rock formations visitors would climb to take pictures

 Taking a turn on the Mall

Mommy said there are horse drawn carriages carrying visitors around the park.

 One of the many tunnels to walk under in the park

Mommy and Daddy walked across the park to the other side and saw the top of the Tavern on the Green on Central Park West.  Mommy's proud of herself because she did not get tired as usual.  She says I keep her young and energetic.

NYC 2015: Day 1 - The Upper West Side

November 28, 2015

We crossed the park to Central Park West.  We are now in the Upper West Side of Manhattan.  We kept walking down West 66th St. and stumbled upon the Julliard School and the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts.

 West 65th and Columbus Ave.

Guess who woke up from her stroller nap!  Time to walk around the Lincoln Center!

 The New York Public Library

 The Metropolitan Opera House

 

Mommy says the Met looks like Oberlin's Conservatory.

 Hanging out at the fountain

 The New York City Ballet is performing the Nutcracker in the Koch Theater

It's about that time to eat some lunch.  We are heading down Columbus Ave. (which turns into 9th Ave.) in search of some lunch. This looks like a good place to stop and get out of the drizzle rain.

The Flame Restaurant on 9th Ave.

NYC 2015: Evening 1 - Midtown

November 28, 2015

Our lunch was filling.  Mommy thinks she ate too much.  I ate a lot of french fries.  We are back on our walk and heading towards our hotel, or so we thought!  We walked a few blocks south to 56th before heading east.  We stumbled upon "the real" Carnegie Hall on 7th Ave.  Mommy works in Carnegie at Oberlin College.

 We plan to ride the NYC metro subway tomorrow

Walking through Central Park again via 7th Ave.  It's raining so we passed the Heckscher Playground and the Wollman Rink.

We took a wrong turn and instead of going North back to the Zoo, we headed along the East Drive and came out by the Plaza.  Hi horsey!

 

It got crowded with tourists and shoppers.  The Salvation Army bell ringers in front of the Apple Store were very cheerful, dancing away and entertaining the masses in the rain.  There are a lot of high end stores in this area.

 

Park Avenue is decorated in some parts

We finally made it home by the time the sun went down.  Mommy said her whole body hurts.  I warmed up with a bath in the kitchen sink.  What a busy day!  Let's see if we can do it again tomorrow!

NYC 2015: Evening 1 Walking map

Our walk of the day

Central Park walks

The Upper West Side walk

NYC 2015: Day 2 - Bloomindale's, the Metro subway, and Madison Square Park

November 29, 2015

Good morning!  I am ready to go at my usual 7 a.m.  Mommy didn't want to wake up just yet so Daddy and I went over to CVS to buy some food, snacks and my milk and juice to keep in our kitchen.  Come on Mom, let's go!  Subway here we come, or so we thought... The trains weren't stopping at 63rd and Lexington today so we had to go back up and walk to the next station on 59th.

We didn't realize Bloomingdale's was across from the the subway station.  It took us awhile to figure out where the sunglasses were in the building (It takes up the whole block and has 11-stories!) but Mom managed to find a Gucci one she liked.  Happy birthday gift to you!

Now we are going down and around to our train platform.  It sort of smells and its noisy when the trains go by.  Daddy's going to hold me while Mommy carries the stroller.  I said hello to everyone on the train and most of them said hello back. I did squirm around in Daddy's arm at the end.  When will this ride just stop?

We made it to our destination - the Flatiron District.  The sun is out but the air is nippy.  Mommy's hungry and it's my lunchtime so Daddy took us to Upland.

It was quite busy so we ended up sitting at the bar.  My high chair wasn't tall enough so I sat on Daddy's lap to be fed.

It's time to exercise and play!

We made it to Madison Square Park (not MSG) where there was an active playground.  I chased the birds, made a friend or two and slid down the slides on my own.

 

 

Aww do we have to go now?

 

I had so much fun that I fell asleep in my stroller.  It's naptime anyway.  Mommy and Daddy made the long haul up Broadway Ave.